Explainer: What to know about the brazen heist at Louvre in Paris

PARIS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Louvre Museum in Paris remained closed on Monday "for exceptional reasons," according to an announcement on the museum's website. The closure came a day after thieves stole some of France's priceless crown jewels from the museum in a daytime raid, dropping a gem-encrusted crown on the run, police said.

Beyond the immediate details of what was lost and how it happened, this latest robbery raises deeper questions about the inherent vulnerabilities of a museum as vast and historic as the Louvre. Moreover, it stands not as an isolated event, but as part of the museum's long and recurring history of theft.

HOW DID THE THEFT HAPPEN AND WHAT WAS STOLEN?

At around 9:30 a.m. local time (0730 GMT), a gang of four burglars broke into the museum's Apollo Gallery -- home to the French Crown Jewels and other treasures -- by smashing the gallery's windows with angle grinders after hoisting themselves up from outside on a cherry picker.

The whole raid took just seven minutes and was thought to have been carried out by an experienced team, possibly "foreigners," said French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.

During their escape, the gang abandoned one of the nine stolen items. The authorities recovered the 19th-century crown -- damaged -- near the museum, but the culprits were still at large and the target of a manhunt.

"Two high-security display cases were targeted, and eight objects of priceless cultural heritage were stolen," said a French Ministry of Culture statement.

According to the AFP, they included the emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave to his wife, Empress Marie Louise, and the 19th-century crown of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

Samir, a witness who was riding a bicycle nearby at the time, told the French public television channel TF1 that he saw two men get on the hoist, break the window and enter. He then saw four men leave on scooters and called the police.

Large numbers of tourists who wanted to see the Mona Lisa had their plans thwarted, after the Louvre said it would stay closed for "exceptional reasons."

Yang Fan, a Chinese tourist who had just caught a glimpse of the Mona Lisa before being ushered away by staff, said no explanation was given on site. He said he was "quite disappointed" that his tour ended halfway at the Louvre.

Nunez, who visited the scene, described the stolen artifacts as being of "inestimable" heritage value. He said he was "hopeful" that the perpetrators would be apprehended "very quickly."

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the robbery on social media X, calling it "an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history."

He promised the perpetrators would be brought to justice and the items be recovered.

WHY THE LOUVRE?

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati told the TF1 that "organized crime today targets works of art, and museums have become targets."

"We are well aware that French museums are highly vulnerable," Nunez, the capital's former police chief who became interior minister last week, said when asked about possible flaws in the surveillance system.

Local labour unions said the museum's security had been undermined by staff reductions in recent years, even as museum attendance has soared.

The AFP quoted one union source as saying that the equivalent of 200 full-time posts had been cut at the museum over the past 15 years, out of a total workforce of nearly 2,000.

In mid-June, the museum's staff staged a brief walkout to protest against issues of understaffing, which they said prevented them from carrying out their duties.

The Louvre's management had previously warned of infrastructure problems affecting the preservation and security of its collections, pending a major renovation program.

"This robbery comes a few months after museum employees warned about security flaws," said David Belliard, deputy mayor of Paris.

"Why were they ignored by the museum management and the ministry?" he wrote on X.

In January, Macron pledged that the Louvre would be redesigned after its director expressed concerns about the conditions inside.

That redesign project included reinforced security, he said on Sunday.

DID THEFT HAPPEN BEFORE?

The Louvre used to be the seat of French kings until Louis XIV abandoned it for the Palace of Versailles in the late 1600s. It is the world's most visited museum, seeing 9 million people in its hallways and galleries last year.

As France's premier museum, the Louvre should have implemented the highest level of security measures, yet this is not the first time it has been burglarized.

In 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian worker, entered the museum dressed to look like a museum worker and stole the Mona Lisa, but it was recovered after two years and today sits behind security glass.

In 1990, thieves stole a small Renoir painting from the Louvre by cutting it from its frame in broad daylight. The painting was stolen alongside 12 pieces of ancient Roman jewellery and a few other paintings.

The latest theft from the Louvre occurred in 1998, when the 19th-century painting Le Chemin de Sevres by Camille Corot was stolen and has never been found. The Louvre's then director, Pierre Rosenberg, warned that the museum's security was "fragile." The incident prompted a massive overhaul of museum security. ■